Stay at home women degrade the status of women in our society.

While listening to a radio personality reading an article from a feminist who says women who “stay home” are 1%’ers who drag other women down
and lower female status, I had to sit down and listen.

I had just finished vacuuming and dusting our 2200 sq foot house; mopping the wood and tile floors; and doing 3 loads of laundry. As I was preparing
to clean the bathrooms and kitchen I listened as a woman said I was “kept” and not making a valuable contribution to society since I’m not a
professional paid housekeeper.

I have to admit this was my “housecleaning day”, so what about the rest of the week. Well, I cook for my husband and I and take a meal over to my
Mom every day. But that’s not work, is it? After all I’m not a professional chef.

Since I’m a grandma I have to admit I don’t have children at home. My senior executive daughter does “real” work, so when her kids get sick,
I care for them, that’s not work is it? When the kids need to be driven to things outside of school, I drive them, but that’s not work. It would
only be work if my daughter paid me to be a nanny and nurse, but since I stay at home and don’t really work, it’s not real work is it? When my
husband or Mom are ill I stay with them and care for them until they recover. But that’s not work, unless I was a certified nursing assistant.

Well, the kids aren’t always sick or need chauffeuring around, so I really am kept aren’t I? I guess the quilts I make for the women in shelters
and the homeless and for camps for foster kids, that’s not work. After all no one buys my quilts so that’s not real work, I’m just a kept woman
who goes out to lunch with the quilt guild once a week.

Oh, tomorrows task? Mowing and trimming our lawn and my mother’s lawn. Hope the aggressive spraying I’ve done in our and Mom’s garden has rid
them of the beetles, but I digress. No that’s not work, that’s being kept since I’m not a paid gardener.

My husband does the real work and keeps me. So when he calls me to run an errand for him that he doesn’t have time to do since he works, that’s
being kept. When I buy the groceries and shop for bargains to save us money, that’s being kept, not real work. When I search for replacement parts
for broken or lost items, that’s not work. When I buy special bargains to take to a local shelter for the mentally challenged isn’t work, is it?
Unless I was a personal shopper, but I’m not, I’m kept.

So I guess she is right, I’m just a kept woman who degrades the role of women in the world. Especially since at one time I was a college professor
who now stays home to take care of 3 generations. What a bad example I set for other women.

Isn't saying that a modern woman should be doing the 9-5 grind, paying bills and whatever else just as sexist and repressive as a man saying a woman's
place is at home?

In my opinion, as long as the woman in question makes the choice for herself, anything goes. It's the people who believe you should be doing a
specific thing based on your sex, sexual orientation, race, creed, color or religion who is the oppressor.

Wasn't the point of the feminist movement meant to give weight and value to the decisions women make for themselves? Decisions that were to be
validated and accepted as legitimately as men's decision were? If true, then women who choose to stay at home are (and should be) as valued as those
who choose to pursue careers. The whole point was choice...

ETA: femi-nazis are not representative of the majority, as with many typically polarizing groups, they're just the loudest.

There was a time one adult in a household earned enough to pay all the bills, keep a mortgage, run two cars and have at least one vacation a year. No
two adults working can barely achieve all of the above.

It seems to me the feminist agenda has been hijacked by corporations to raise the labour pool and depress wages.

Its my opinion that the feminest movement fell right into a trap set for them by
jealous men. Men fooled them into thinking that they could only be of value if they went into the world and worked at a job making money as a wage
slave for some fat cat capitalist.

People are no longer viewed as people anymore, only as resources in a grand economy to be used up and thrown away when they are no longer of any use
to the big corporations. Society only views people as having any value if they produce money for their oppressive overlords.

You are no longer a person, you are only an economic unit. Welcome to the wonderful world of capitalism.

In our household (due to me being self employed and my wife being employed), I am a bit of a "stay at home" dad, and have been for the last 2 years
(work in the later afternoon/evening)

My son starts nursery in September and the in laws will take him in the afternoon.

This has been the best and most rewarding 2 years of my life and I do not feel like I have devalued men in society- how the hell can I represent
millions of men, I am just me, an individual, who was blessed to have spent quality time with his kids.

People who buy that drivel are why women are so looked down upon in our society and were treated as second class citizens until relatively recently.
Stay at home women (and men more and more these days) contribute as much to society as their working spouses do. It's just not there in everybody's
faces, and that's why it's overlooked.

Feminists are the ones who are ruining the image of women all around the world.

What you do is completely legitimate and in no way effects the status of any other woman in the world, to say that it does is complete lunacy.

These feminists have no idea what they are doing, poisoning the minds of females and males a like.

They should be egalitarians and allow women to make their own choices, along with men about how they think they should be treated, how they should
live their lives and how it's nobody else's business but your own what you do with it.

I worked for 20 years while raising my 22 & 20 yr old (alone), for 8 of those years. By the way, they still live with us. Married the 2nd hubs, went
on to have 2 more kids (boys, now 7 & 11). Long story short, left the hubs home
for a full day with the kids, when I returned home to a partially destroyed house with the hubs laying in the middle of the floor, he says, " how do
you do this day in & day out! I am glad I'm at work all day!!"

Some don't understand all the running around, cleaning up, etc. that goes into
actually staying home when raising a family....

My husband used to work 80 hours per week and now only works about 40 or 50 because of different circumstances. When we both worked, he took care of
the lawn, ran his own errands and did a lot of household chores, since I was working also.

Now that I am caring for 3 generations and staying home, he no longer has to do the lawn. He does work in the garden for fun, but I take care of
whatever he doesn't want to do because I have the time. I take the cars in to be worked on, a job he used to do. He now comes home to a home cooked
meal at the time of his choosing. His job requires a lot of nights so he tells me when he wants to eat as it fits into his schedule. Saves a great
deal of money eating out, you wouldn't believe how much. Plus he gets to put his feet up after eating before going back to work.
He now gets to come home and relax, I feel it is not right for him to do 1/2 the housework anymore since I'm home. We spend much more quality time
together than ever before. We also get to spend time with the grandkids that would be taken up doing chores if we were both working full time.

It works for us! He is actually much happier and I feel fulfilled helping out Mom, my daughter, the grandkids and helping those who need it.

Wish I could afford for my lady to stay at home but I just don't earn enough. I think having your children around the parents is invaluable, many
people dont get the time for this with work etc. I see my daughter for about an hour through the week which is not nice but I have to pay the bills.
I'm just glad my lady is able to to be with our daughter for 4 days out the week

Massive respect & nicely worded.

Edit:

I'd like to say too that I and many other men actually like the idea of working to support our family... Its also great coming home and your tea's
just sat there waiting, like clock work - I dont know how you do it

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.